Will my Labrador puppy's barking and sprinting behavior improve with time, or should I take new measures?

I have a 7 month old Labrador puppy. He is doing very well on most obedience and is comfortable loose leash walking in the neighborhood as well as dog friendly stores. My back yard has a chain link fence and I like to leave my back door open when the weather is nice. My pup will go in and out and is used to one of my neighbors who is out all the time. When any other neighbors come out or that same neighbor is in their front yard and he is alone in the yard he will sometimes bark and sprint back into the house to me. Is this something that will improve with time as he gains confidence and gets used to the yard or should I be taking new measures? We spend a lot of time in the back yard training and throwing the ball.

Cindy's Answer:

Its a fairly typical stage of development for some dogs. As they enter adolescence they start to feel worried and sometimes territorial about their yard. That can create a lack of confidence but be careful, over time, when there is a fence involved it can develop into barrier aggression behind the fence and a dog that barks and runs the fence. As your pup matures, he will start to feel more confident and it could create a dog that barks and carries on anytime someone he doesn't know is outside.

Personally, I like to control all my pup's early experiences as much as possible so I don't allow my puppies to go in and out if there are things around my yard I can't control (like neighbors, other dogs, etc).

If this were my puppy, I wouldn't let him go in and out unless I was supervising. If you have a good relationship with all your neighbors, it might be a good idea to let your pup meet them and get comfortable seeing them with YOUR supervision.